Network operators (e.g. multiple systems operators (MSOs)) have deployed a network (e.g. a co-axial network, a hybrid fiber-coaxial (HFC) network, a digital subscriber line (DSL) network, etc.) to provide TV, video and audio broadcast services, interactive video services, high-speed data services including Internet services, and the like to their subscribers. In the customer premises, a residential gateway (e.g. a home gateway, a cable modem, etc.) is installed to receive the services provided by the network operators. A residential gateway allows a connection of a local area network (LAN) to a wide area network (WAN) and may provide functionalities of a modem.
Residential gateways may include a hardware accelerator for packet forwarding as well as a wireless LAN (WLAN) access point (AP) for providing wireless accesses to user equipments, such as a mobile phone, a laptop computer, etc. The growth in bandwidth and the introduction of Internet of Things (IOT) bring some challenges with respect to the processing loads on the AP in the residential gateway. It is expected that the average packet size will become smaller while the overall throughput becomes higher, resulting in much greater packet-per-second (PPS) rates having to be processed at the AP. Therefore, there is a need to relieve the processing load on the WLAN AP in the residential gateway.